1. Field of the Invention
While there is a present trend to more efficient operation of motor vehicles, there is also an ongoing concern for the safety in vehicle operations. Reduced speed limits, for example, are enforced both to save energy and to save lives.
Various devices have been proposed to further the goals of both energy and safety, for large hauling transports and personal cars. Along with major changes such as governors for truck engines and catalytic converters for emission control have been relatively inexpensive improvements which have contributed to increased economy and safety.
As motor vehicles have been improved, driver error has contributed a larger percentage of unsafe conditions because very little can be, or is being done to improve driver attentiveness. Nevertheless, an improvement in a vehicle which would permit the operator to increase his field of view will permit the anticipation of dangerous or unsafe conditions, so that the operator can take necessary precautionary steps. One particularly important area of concern is the present-day side and/or rearview mirrors being used, particularly on large vehicles such as tractor-trailers. In many instances, a mirror large enough to give an adequate field of view to the rear blocks out an unsafe portion of the forward viewing area. Mirrors positioned out of the forward viewing area or of a small enough size to be relatively unrestrictive of the forward viewing area are not adequate for presenting a large field of view in the appropriate rearward direction.
While many attempts have been made to modify the common rearview mirror, most improvements have related to the placement of the mirror in an optimum place to minimize obstruction of the forward view. In the converse, several devices have been provided which function as an intentional blocking of the forward view to reduce headlight glare from oncoming automobiles while providing a rearview mirror. Examples of these devices are U.S. Pat. 2,106,889 and U.S. Pat. No. 1,493,609. The latter patent teaches a combined rearview mirror and glare shield which employs a mirror which reflects from the back and transmits from the front to permit reduction of glare.
Other proposals which have been made employ the use of a plurality of mirrors which are inefficient and which cause the operator to look in a direction substantially away from the direction in which the vehicle is traveling. None of the present-day rear and sideview mirror systems permit relatively safe forward viewing with an accompanying safe relatively large field of view to the rear while utilizing low-cost, lightweight and inexpensive parts.